Question of Religious Leadership
A significant phenomenon of the contemporary religious scene is the continuing attraction of large numbers of people, mostly young, to such groups as the Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna), the Unification Church (Moonies), the Divine Light Mission and a whole set of small groups, all of which are commonly called “cults.” Their popularity highlights one of the most important facets of religious history, the issue of leadership and the proper relationship between the members of an emerging religion and their leader-originator. One of the primary characteristics of modern cults is the intensity of the attachment of members to their group and, particularly, to the leader. Despite their expressed allegiance to an ultimate god, the main thrust of their belief is the devotion to the group's leader. His strength and the promise of salvation that allegiance to him represents are, together, the centripetal force holding these people together. They concentrate around him in a tight cluster which removes itself from other, more ordinary, societal ties. These groups are thus particularly characterized by their willingness to give up any prior identity, individual self-determination and ego-control to leaders who, like Reverend Moon or Reverend Jim Jones, become, in effect, semidivine characters.
There are many factors that make individuals susceptible to the pull of a leader-led salvation cult. People tend to join them at transition points in their lives: between high school and college, toward the end of college, etc., when old ties are being broken and new ones have not yet been established. The feelings of rootlessness, loneliness and (at least partial) alienation that are felt in such circumstances make people vulnerable to the attraction of cult communities and the security of following the leader.